U.S. President Barack Obama rebuked Donald Trump Tuesday for claiming
that the presidential election is rigged against him, saying the Republican
contender ought to “stop whining” and instead persuade voters to choose him on
November 8.

“I have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any
presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election
process before votes have even taken place,” Obama said at a White House news
conference, with the visiting prime minister of Italy standing beside him.
“It’s unprecedented. It happens to be based on no facts.”

The real estate tycoon, making his first run for elected office, has
contended that vote fraud is occurring as some states conduct early voting,
without presenting any evidence.

Trump claims there will be further problems on Election Day, and that
the nationwide balloting is “rigged”; he further claims that national news
media are conspiring together with former Secretary of State Clinton to ensure
she becomes the country’s first female president.

Blunt advice for Trump

“I’d advise Mr. Trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get
votes,” Obama said. “And if he got the most votes, it would be my expectation
of Hillary Clinton to offer a gracious concession speech and pledge to work
with him in order to make sure that the American people benefit from an
effective government.

“And it would be my job to welcome Mr. Trump, regardless of what he’s
said about me, or my differences with him or my opinions, and escort him over
to the Capitol [on inauguration day in January] in which there would be a
peaceful transfer of power,” the president added. “That’s what Americans do.” Obama,
who has been in office for two full terms, will turn over the White House to
his elected successor just more than 10 weeks after the election, according to
longstanding tradition and practice.

“There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you
could even rig America’s elections,” the president said, “in part because
they’re so decentralized and the numbers of votes involved. There’s no evidence
that that has happened in the past or that there are instances in which that
will happen this time.”

Speaking as if he were addressing Trump, Obama said in the White House
Rose Garden: “You start whining before the game’s even over. If whenever things
are going badly for you and you lose, you start to blame somebody else, then
you don’t have what it takes to be in this job.”

There is scant evidence of vote fraud in United States elections, with
one study saying there were only 31 instances of voter impersonation from 2000
to 2014, a period in which 1 billion votes were cast in a long list of
elections.

Obama, a staunch Clinton supporter, also criticized Trump’s praise for
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama said Trump’s “flattery” of the Russian
leader is “unprecedented in American politics.” The president said he is
surprised that Republican leaders are going along with Trump’s pro-Putin views,
calling this a real “role reversal” for Republicans.

Trump has said he views a better U.S. relationship with Russia as an
opportunity for the two countries to fight as partners against the Islamic
State terrorist group. He suggested this week that, if he is elected, he might
visit Moscow even before assuming the presidency.

Italy, US are ‘strong partners’

Obama delivered his remarks about Trump in response to reporters’
questions at a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Both leaders stressed how much they value the strong partnership between their
two countries, cooperating to fight the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq,
Libya and Afghanistan.

Renzi said history would be kind to Obama, because he has made changes
to improve lives and to help poor people. Obama thanked Renzi and the Italian
people for their generosity in saving the lives of so many refugees crossing
the Mediterranean Sea and pledged U.S. assistance in dealing with that crisis. Obama
and first lady Michelle Obama will host Prime Minister Renzi and Mrs. Agnese
Landini at their final state dinner at the White House Tuesday evening.